Star Fox Assault: Star Wolf Edition
by Orca1-9904
Summary: A take on Star Fox Assault showing events from the Star Wolf team's point of view. Hiatus officially ended and new chapters are now being added.
1. Chapter 1: A Voice From Space

Star Fox Assault: Star Wolf Edition

Disclaimers: Rated T for depictions of violence and mildly strong language. Star Fox and all names and characters (save for the _Wolf Pack_) are copyright Nintendo, Rare, and Namco.

Chapter 1

It had been some time since Star Wolf had seen any major action, the last time being during Venom's war with Corneria several years ago. Since that time, the Star Wolf Team had kept busy with comparatively mediocre jobs around the Lylat System, be it scavenger raids on luckless merchant vessels that strayed into their territory, bounty hunting, or quarrels with rival mercenary gangs. Even so, it was hard to escape the tedium that peace brought to people who made a living off of strife and turmoil.

The team's leader, Wolf O'Donnel, was just contemplating this when a sudden disturbance shattered his thoughts.

"What the hell? That's the third time this week that blasted transfer device has conked out! Where's the moron who's supposed to keep these things running?" Shouted an annoyed Leon Powalski, senior member of the Star Wolf team, second in command to Wolf O'Donnel, leader both of the Star Wolf team and of the gang of criminals, low-level mercenaries, and thugs that made up the manpower needed to control the expanse of territory the team resided over. A few moments later, an ape wearing a rather flea-bitten Venomian uniform and a pair of red visor-like goggles over his eyes approached Leon, scratching the back of his head with one hand.

"What's the matter boss?" the ape asked, looking from the sparking and crackling transfer device to the not-too-happy chameleon.

"You've been slacking off on the job again, that's what! Your job is to keep the transfer devices running, and this one's broken down for the third time this week!" said Leon, pointing towards the machine in question. "If this hideout were to come under attack, these devices would be the only way of keeping enough manpower coming to keep it from being overrun! Now get off your lazy tail and get to work before I make Monkey stew out of you!" With this, the Ape promptly headed towards the device and set to work getting it running again as Leon walked off, heading towards Wolf whom had overseen the whole dressing-down.

"Monkey stew, huh? Not sure that'd exactly win many cooking contests." said Wolf as he walked along with Leon, who in turn shrugged.

"Eh, maybe so, but it certainly lit a fire under his tail."

"It doesn't help that we've barely been making enough to keep things in decent shape around here, to say nothing of getting a hold of better equipment." Said Wolf as the two boarded the elevator to the top level of their 'hideout', a remote space colony in the Sargasso region that had become overrun with all nature of criminals and ruffians, ranging from petty thieves, to murderers, and pretty much any other low-life the Lylat System could produce.

After reaching the top level, Wolf and Leon then proceeded down the hallways to the command room that served as the nerve center for the entire hideout, the large double doors parting as they approached to reveal the team's newest member, Panther Caroso, looking over an array of monitors, looking for prospective 'job' opportunities for the team. Panther had joined the team shortly after Pigma Dengar was ousted, his endless greed and self-centeredness having finally gotten on Wolf's last nerve and soon before Andrew Oikonny left to pursue his late uncle Andross' ambitions of ruling the Lylat System, taking a portion of the hideout's inhabitants with him. The dark-furred Feline was still considered a rookie in terms of time on the team, but despite being new, he still showed promise, and could hold his own just as well as Wolf and Leon in most cases.

"Find anything Panther?" asked Wolf, glancing at the monitors as Panther turned to face his comrades.

"Not yet, though there has been an increase in com traffic about encounters with something called _Aparoids_, said Panther, indicating the large central monitor showing a star chart with a few random locations highlighted "Seems they've been attacking long-haul merchant ships and small colonies in remote parts of the system."

"Aparoids, huh? There's a name I haven't heard in a while." said Wolf, a gloved paw rubbing his chin.

"What are they? I don't recall hearing about them." asked Leon, glancing to the thoughtful Wolf.

"Heard some rumors a while back that one of those things wasted a whole fleet of Cornerian ships a couple decades or so ago. They kept pretty quiet after that, but it looks like they're making some noise again." No sooner had Wolf finished speaking, when one of the monitors lit up with an incoming transmission alert, drawing the attention of all three of the team members to it as Panther opened the channel.

"This is Rango Alkon of the tenth Oikonnian Army; we are under heavy attack by unidentified aliens and need immediate reinforcements! Is anyone receiving me? I say again, we need immediate reinfor-AAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" The three looked on as the transmission was cut off in a burst of static, the monitor showing signal having been lost.

"Panther, where was that signal coming from?" asked Wolf, the Panther already tapping away on a control panel in front of him.

"It seems like it originated from Fortuna. Can't make much of what's going on there, this equipment's not as capable as it could be."

Leon then looked to Wolf "Don't tell me you're thinking about going there?"

Wolf then smirked, still looking at the monitors "There could be a job opportunity in there. Not like we can exactly afford to be choosy about where our meal ticket comes from these days." After a couple moments, the tall Lupine looked to his two team mates "Panther, Leon, get ready to leave. We're going to Fortuna!" The two nodded to their leader, Leon leaving to brief the gang downstairs that they'd be in charge of keeping the hideout secure in their absence, and Panther leaving to ready the team's mother ship, the _Wolf Pack_ and their Wolfen II fighters for the trip. "Looks like business might finally be picking up." Wolf mused to himself as he too exited the command room to get ready.

End chapter 1

Original A/N, circa 2005: So what'd you think? Off to a good start so far? Yes, I know Star Wolf doesn't officially have any other ships besides the Wolfen fighters, but I decided to take a few liberties with this. Besides, it would fill in a few plot holes, such as how the team managed to get around the Lylat System so well. Please read & review and let me know how you like this so far.

New A/N: Just when you thought this story was dead, it rises from the abyss! Sorry for the lack of updates on this, been dealing with all nature of RL issues, not the least of which include my Game Cube dying and denying me access to the game which was my main reference material. I just recently got a Wii though, so I plan to bring this story out of hiatus and complete it. In preparation, I went through and revised what I had with the existing chapters (nothing major, mostly fixed grammar and paragraph structure to clean things up). I'm already working on chapter six, and will post it once I get a chance to complete it between college and other responsibilities.


	2. Chapter 2: Mysteries

Star Fox Assault: Star Wolf Edition

Disclaimers: Rated T for depictions of violence and mildly strong language. Star Fox and all names and characters (save for the _Wolf Pack_) are copyright Nintendo, Rare, and Namco.

Chapter 2:

Wolf looked on at the massive vessel sitting in the docking bay before him; the mother ship of the Star Wolf team, the _Wolf Pack_. It wasn't really anything fancy, basically one of the small fleet of battleships left over from the war that had been modified to carry the Wolfens and equipped with a cloaking device to conceal the vessel from Cornerian patrols and from the teams' victims until the last moment before they attacked. Wolf could see several members of the gang he and the team shared the hideout with making final preparations for the ship to launch, this time wearing red and white spacesuits instead of their normal Venomian uniforms in case of an accident. Wolf could also see Panther and Leon supervising them and called up to Leon "How's it coming Leon? We ready to go yet?"

The Chameleon looked down to the Wolf before replying, "Just about done, should be ready in under a minute."

"Good, I'll meet you inside." replied Wolf as he boarded the ship, making a quick stop in his quarters to drop off a small pack containing a few personal items before heading to the bridge, taking a seat in the Captain's chair and propping his feet up on the console in front of him as he waited for the others.

True to his word, Leon and Panther arrived on the bridge a few moments later, accompanied by one of the apes from before, who had just removed the helmet portion of his spacesuit, his black, almost Gorilla-like face showing him to have a degree of seniority amongst the other Primates that composed the gang that would be running the hideout while Star Wolf was away.

"Everything's ready to go, boss." said the ape, walking over to one of the four seats on the bridge as Leon and Panther took the others.

"Good Chino, let's get going." said Wolf, taking his feet off the console as he and the others initiated the launch sequence, the ship humming to life as the consoles lit up and the engines rumbled to life.

"All systems green, ready for launch." said Panther as he looked over his console.

"Docking bay clear, launching now." Leon said as the ship began to move slowly out of the docking bay and into space beyond, the ship maneuvering through the many asteroids surrounding the colony.

"Asteroid field perimeter ETA thirty seconds, cloaking device and warp system standing by." said Chino as the remaining asteroids slipped past the ship.

"Engage cloak and set course for Fortuna, maximum speed." ordered Wolf, the sound of the commands being entered into the control panels was heard as the ship rippled and disappeared from sight to anyone outside the vessel, the engines roaring as they propelled the ship into warp, the ship disappearing into the distance in an instant, a bright flash showing the ship having successfully entered warp.

A few days later, the _Wolf Pack_ arrived at Fortuna, the only sign of its arrival being a brief flash of the ship coming out of warp, though the ship itself couldn't be seen due to the cloaking device. Onboard the ship, Wolf was just arriving on the bridge, looking on at the planet before them. There was evidence of a major battle having occurred recently, wreckage and debris of ships and craft of all kinds drifting in orbit around the planet.

"Hmm, this is strange. What's left of those ships out there register as Cornerian and Venomian, I'm not picking up any signs of any strange aliens like the communication indicated." said Leon, hunched over his console.

"Looks like we'll have to go down and take a look for ourselves." Wolf commented, getting up from his seat. "Chino, keep the ship at a safe distance, the rest of you are with me." said Wolf, the others nodding as Panther and Leon got up to follow their leader, leaving Chino alone on the bridge. A few moments later they were in the hangar deck, climbing into their Wolfens and going over the preflight checks. Wolf was the first to complete the checks and opened a channel to the rest of the team "This is Wolf, all ships check in." "Leon here, all green." "This is Panther, ready for launch." "Alright then, let's go!" shouted Wolf, hitting the launch button on his Wolfens' control panel as the boarding platform swung out of the way, the fighter being hurled out of the ship by the catapult as the other two Wolfens followed behind it, their wings, which had been folded up against the sides of the hull, folding out like four switchblades as the engines roared to life, the ships speeding away in a V formation towards the planet below with Wolf in the lead.

Meanwhile, back at the hideout, the gang had just finished making the final defense preparations for the base, using the transfer devices to teleport in a group of laser gun turrets and arraying them throughout the facility; four on the lower level, three on the middle level, eight on the upper level, and seven on the top level where the command room was located, two of them in the command room itself positioned to give any interloper who walked through the doors a nasty surprise. The gang had also teleported in several power armors and positioned them around the base on all the levels, with even more waiting to be teleported in at a moments' notice. There were also numerous machines that had been positioned at the top of the ramps leading to each level that when activated, would roll out large barrels filled with explosives to greet anyone trying to make their way up the ramp. Currently, one of the members of the gang was sitting in the command room, leaning back in his chair, his goggles obscuring his eyes, though the sound of snoring clearly revealed him to be asleep on the job. Not surprisingly, it was the same ape that Leon had chewed out about the transfer devices the other day. As he snored, one of the monitors started beeping, the screen showing a proximity alert as a ship entered sensor range, rousing the primate from his nap as he muttered, squinting at the console. "Stupid idiot, who does he think he is barging in here like this?" he muttered, opening a channel to the approaching ship. "Hey you, who the hell are you and what're you doing here? This is Lord O'Donnell's territory!" shouted the Ape, not at all in the mood to deal with this trespasser.

"This is Pigma Dengar, former member of Star Wolf. I need a place to hide for a while, lemme in!"

"Pigma, huh? The boss said you might show your fat ass around here, and he said he wants nothing to do with a greedy scumbag like you, so get outta here before we turn you into space dust!" with that, the Ape pressed a few buttons on the console in front of him, bringing the automated blaster turrets mounted on some of the asteroids outside online, the turrets whirring as they locked onto Pigma's ship.

"Alright, alright, I'm going! Sheesh, some way to treat an old friend." snorted Pigma as he throttled up the engines of his ship, the yellow craft rumbling out of the area, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

Back at Fortuna, Wolf and the others had finished scouting the battleground turned graveyard above the planet and were now streaking through the skies above the lush forests, occasionally finding traces of wreckage that used to be military hardware, mostly leftover Venomian equipment, ranging from small tanks to large mech-like battle robots. Eventually they came upon a demolished base of some sort.

"Whew, someone sure got their butts handed to them." observed Panther, glancing at the destruction below.

"Probably Oikonny and his group by the looks of it." added Leon.

"Looks like Fox's handiwork. He may be hell on wings, but he's hardly an 'unidentified alien'. Guess whoever sent that signal was probably half-dead and scared out of his mind so much he wasn't thinking clearly." thought Wolf. He was just about to order the group to leave when Leon spoke up. "Hey wait, I'm picking up something on radar at the end of that canyon ahead, bearing zero-niner-zero."

"Can you identify it?" asked wolf, checking his own radar as well. "Negative. Whatever it is, it's not matching any kind of ID in the computer's records." replied Leon.

"Looks like we just found our alien. Let's go boys." said wolf, making a hard right turn as he hit the boost on his Wolfen, Panther and Leon following suit in close formation.

A few moments later, the team had found the source of the radar contact; a huge, moth-like creature lying dead at the bottom of the canyon, it's wings reduced to shreds as smoke and flames billowed from its lifeless carcass.

"What the hell is that thing?" asked Panther, his Wolfen, identified by the red rose emblazoned on the right side below the canopy, hovering over the macabre scene with the other two.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that's an Aparoid like the one that wiped out the Cornerian fleet all those years ago. Though it seems it picked the wrong person to mess with this time." said Wolf.

"Looks like we came all this way for nothing then." commented Leon, a trace of disappointment in his voice. "Sure looks that way. No sense in wasting time around here anymore. Chino, we're on our way back. Prepare to return to the hideout once we're aboard." said Wolf as he and the others boosted away and made a U-turn heading out of the planet's atmosphere as Chino acknowledged them, preparing the _Wolf Pack_ for their arrival.

Back at the hideout, the Ape who had sent Pigma packing was rudely awakened from his sleep by yet another proximity alert, swearing under his breath as he opened a channel to the incoming vessel. "Don't you idiots know? This is part of Lord O'Donnell's territory!"

"This is the Star Fox team, we're here for a hog named Pigma, we don't want any trouble." replied a male Fox with brownish-orange fur on the other end. This immediately caught the ape's attention, as he and the others had very specific instructions regarding what to do if _they_ showed up.

"We don't know nothing about no Pigma or any other fool, and now that we know you're Star Fox, you ain't going anywhere!" He then keyed the intercom to the entire hideout as he hit the battle stations alarm "Come on you lazy scum, let's skin this Fox and his whole crew! Get more guys up here, come on!" With that, the gang manning the hideout immediately swung into action as gunners and crews manned the turrets and power armors, other soldiers grabbing laser rifles and taking up positions on all the levels, a security force field being raised on the top level to hinder access to the command room from the elevator, forcing any intruders that made it up that far to have to run a gauntlet of laser gun turrets, power armors, and armed ruffians, the elevator itself being deactivated to prevent access to the top level, the platform's light blue color replaced by yellow as it was locked down. In addition to this, an emergency signal was broadcast summoning all the gangs battleships to report for battle at the hideout immediately, the first one arriving as a group of four fighters left the enemy ship, two of them making a beeline for the hideout as the other two flew to intercept the incoming battleship.

End chapter 2.

Original A/N, circa 2005: Woohoo! Things are starting to pick up now, huh? Hope you like it so far. Please read & review so I can get to work on chapter 3!

New A/N: Just when you thought this story was dead, it rises from the abyss! Sorry for the lack of updates on this, been dealing with all nature of RL issues, not the least of which include my Game Cube dying and denying me access to the game which was my main reference material. I just recently got a Wii though, so I plan to bring this story out of hiatus and complete it. In preparation, I went through and revised what I had with the existing chapters (nothing major, mostly fixed grammar and paragraph structure to clean things up). I'm already working on chapter six, and will post it once I get a chance to complete it between college and other responsibilities.


	3. Chapter 3: Sargasso Shootout

Star Fox Assault: Star Wolf Edition

Disclaimers: Rated T for depictions of violence and mildly strong language. Star Fox and all names and characters (save for the _Wolf Pack_) are copyright Nintendo, Rare, and Namco.

Chapter 3:

Wolf sat in his quarters, relaxing during some downtime during the trip back to the hideout from Fortuna, feeling rather disappointed that his hunch about a possible job there turned out to be nothing more than a wild goose chase, though he had been quite surprised to find an Aparoid there. "What the heck was that thing doing there? There's never been any documented cases of Aparoids coming that deep into the Lylat system before, at least as far as I know." thought Wolf to himself, lying back on his bed with his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. "Oh well, not that it matters now. Thing's worthless to me and has probably been carted off by Cornerian scientists by now." he mused, starting to relax as sleep began to overtake him. Wolf had nearly fallen fully asleep when he was roused by the intercom, Leon's raspy voice coming over the speaker.

"Hey Wolf, you better get up to the bridge, looks like we've got trouble at the hideout." said the Chameleon, Wolf grumbling as he dragged himself out of bed.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'..." he growled, making his way to the door "This better be important or I'm gonna kill whoever's responsible over there." he growled to himself as he exited the room.

A few moments later, Wolf walked onto the bridge, looking around "Alright, what's this about the hideout?" said Wolf as the others turned to him.

"We just picked up a level 10 emergency signal being broadcast on our coded channel from the hideout to all our ships." explained Panther from his seat. This immediately caught Wolf's attention, because there were only two things that could warrant a broadcast of such importance; one being an all-out assault by the Cornerian Defense Fleet, which was highly unlikely seeing as they rarely undertook such offensive action unless directly provoked by a major invasion, and the other being an attack by a rival mercenary group, and even then there was only one Wolf knew of that could wreak that much havoc.

"How far are we from the hideout?" asked Wolf, standing next to his own chair on the bridge.

"Three hours at present speed, though if we went to maximum warp we could be there in about 20 minutes." Chino said as he looked over his console.

"Very well, take us to maximum warp. Leon, Panther, prepare to launch as soon as we're there." said Wolf, heading for the hangar deck as his team mates followed behind him.

Back at the hideout, things were in utter chaos; all the defenses on the lower and middle levels of the hideout had been obliterated, half the fleet of battleships was reduced to hulking wrecks floating amongst the asteroids outside the hideout, and all but two transfer devices had been destroyed. The surviving members of the gang occupying the hideout were left on the top level, consisting of 7 turrets, half a dozen power armors, and twice as many blaster rifle-toting ruffians. A group of ruffians and one of the turrets were positioned at the front of the hallway, watching as the elevator was reactivated and began to rise to their level. Despite being prepared for the approaching enemy, they were still decimated when the elevator stopped at their level, the same male Fox that had talked with the lazy Ape earlier mowing the ruffians and the turret down with a machine gun as a blue barrier shield glowed around him, rendering him immune to any shots they did get off before being wiped out. The rest of the defenders on that level meeting the same fate, save for those in the control room, who were spared by the arrival of two of the remaining battleships in the space behind the hideout "Fox, incoming enemy reinforcements, go get 'em!" a graying male Hare called over the wrist comp on the Vulpines' left arm "Got it!" replied the Fox as he dashed down the hallway, the security force field deactivating as he rounded the corner and took the elevator to the bottom level to board his fighter which was docked in one of the two docking bays, an identical craft occupying the other one at the other end.

Outside the hideout, two more fighters patrolled the space on the other side of the hideout from the battleships, easily obliterating any of the smaller, more obsolete fighters launched by the battleships that wandered into their kill zones. A third fighter emerged from the hideout and circled around the colony to engage the two battleships, using the boost to close the distance between the two sooner. As the fighter closed in on the battleships, it launched two homing laser shots which promptly chased down and vaporized the fighters circling the battleship, the massive red vessel itself firing a laser and a pair of missiles in a vain attempt to defend itself, the fighter outmaneuvering the missiles and dodging the laser before firing a nova bomb which struck the ship between the two laser turrets, completely destroying it in a massive explosion as the fighter boosted away, outrunning the remaining missile as it headed toward the remaining battleship, which in turn suffered the same fate, one of its fighters managing to score a lucky shot on the enemy craft, though with negligible effect due to the fighter's antiquated weaponry.

Moments later, the Fox had re-entered the colony, exiting his fighter and picking up a massive Gatling gun, lugging it over to the elevator and riding the platform back to the top level, making a beeline to the huge double doors to the command room. Inside, the remaining handful of ruffians, manning the two turrets, remaining three power armors, and on foot, trained all their weapons at the doors, planning to give whoever stepped through them everything they had. They didn't have to wait long, the doors parting to reveal the Fox who had slaughtered their comrades, protected by yet another spherical barrier shield as he sprayed the room with Gatling gun fire, making short work of the remaining occupants and the last transfer device, the Hare's voice once more coming over Fox's wrist comp "Great job Fox, this means we can take control of the hideout!"

Moments after the last of the colony's defenders had been wiped out, a trio of X-winged fighters streaked into the space outside the hideout, the lead fighter opening a channel to the hideout and the attacking force. "You fools! What are you idiots up to now?"

"Boss, you're here!" called one of the surviving ruffians.

"That you Wolf?" called Fox from his wrist comp as the fighters boosted towards the besieged hideout.

"You're on my turf now. Watch... your... step... Fox" growled Wolf.

"Heheh, I think I'll torment you a bit before I cook you!" cackled Leon as the third fighter joined up on his wing, bearing a red rose under the canopy.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Panther, and all who see my rose meet death!" snarled the feline at the controls as he and Leon joined up in formation with Wolf.

"We're just here for Pigma, ok? Shut your traps and hand him over!" demanded Fox, obviously not impressed by the team's threats.

"Pigma? Don't know anything about Pigma." said Wolf "But there is one thing. I'm owed an apology... and I will have it!" said Wolf angrily as he and the other fighters split up to engage Fox's comrades outside the hideout.

"We didn't come here to fight with Wolf and his team." said Fox as he scrambled to his fighter again.

"That's easy to say after all you've done. Enough small talk, let's settle this Fox!" challenged Wolf as he circled outside the hideout, Leon and Panther having flown off to engage the two silver and blue fighters one on one as the last battleship arrived in front of the hideout, launching a whole squadron of fighters once it was in position.

"It's unavoidable Fox, repel the enemy with your Arwing!" the elderly Hare instructed as a third fighter emerged from the hideout, blasters blazing as soon as it was clear, wiping out almost all of the waiting smaller fighters before demolishing the last battleship, Wolf taking up position behind him and locking on for a charged shot as the battleship exploded.

"Go down, Fox!" roared the lupine, but before he could release the trigger, the Arwing in his sights pulled up hard and did a 180 degree Immelmann turn before boosting away in the opposite direction to assist one of his own team mates who had a trio of fighter craft on her tail, the obsolete craft not even seeing the one who struck them down as all three were blasted in quick succession, Fox's Arwing making another U-turn and heading over to where Leon was engaging his other Wingman, greeting the Chameleon with a homing laser blast which rocked his Wolfen violently.

"Who do you think I am?" the Chameleon said indignantly as he put his craft into a tight spiraling climb to lose his pursuer, nearly striking the Arwing with the blade-like wings of his fighter. After the spiral maneuver, Leon tried to get his craft in position to return fire, but was outmaneuvered by the more agile Arwing, the Vulpine in the cockpit releasing the trigger to fire another homing laser shot at his damaged fighter, eliciting an outraged reply as Leon was forced to break off from the battle, his shields nearly nonexistent "Me? ME?"

After dispatching Leon, Fox had to immediately tend to his wingman who had gotten another trio of battleship-borne fighters latched onto his tail, dealing with them in the same manner as the last group, but not before they got a few pot shots in on the Arwing ahead of them, the craft behind them paying them back tenfold as they were erased from existence in a barrage of green blaster fire. Once his wing mate's tail was clear of enemies, Fox boosted around behind the hideout, blasting away at the remaining fighters as Panther snuck onto his tail, getting in a few blaster shots, the last few deflected by an aileron roll before the Arwing executed a loop and peppered the rear of the feline's Wolfen with blaster fire before he escaped with the same spiraling climb Leon had done earlier.

"Make me mad and your life is as good as gone!" snarled Panther as the shield readout in his cockpit read fifty percent. No sooner had Panther gotten Fox off his tail when Wolf took his turn at attacking his years-old rival, again locking on for another charged shot.

"What's the matter, you done already?" Wolf said as he released the shot, the glowing red mass of blaster energy streaking towards his enemy's fighter before being dissipated as by a well-timed aileron roll, a green glow briefly engulfing the craft before it once more executed another U-turn, putting Panther right in Fox's sights, a charged shot erupting from the nose of the craft, catching the unprepared feline's Wolfen head-on.

"This can't be! I-I've been..." said Panther in disbelief, his transmission being cut off as the com system in his Wolfen shorted out. Just after Panther was forced out of the fight, Wolf immediately came about to engage Fox once more.

"That's the end of it!" Wolf said sinisterly as he mashed down the trigger, letting loose a burst of blaster fire at Fox's Arwing, strafing along the top of the fuselage and making the fighter buck under the impacts before the enemy craft performed a loop, returning the favor on the rear of the remaining Wolfen "Don't mess with me, Fox!" shouted Wolf as he too pulled a spiraling climb to break the lock his adversary had on him, the Arwing maneuvering below to intercept him as he came back down. Wolf saw this, and attempted to counter-maneuver him, but once again found himself with his rival on his tail, a final homing laser shot eradicating the remains of his shields as he too was forced from the battle "Can't believe I'd get beat." Wolf said as he ordered the other two Wolfens to regroup with him.

Moments later, both teams had regrouped at opposite ends of the asteroid field surrounding the hideout as Wolf opened a channel to Fox "That's enough for now, Fox."

"C'mon Wolf, enough of this, just hand over Pigma already!" demanded Fox.

"Pigma's no longer part of Star Wolf, and if he'd shown his filthy hide here my men would have driven him out." replied Wolf as the other two Wolfens joined up on his wing.

"But... then where did Pigma go?" replied a blue-furred vixen piloting one of the Arwings, her image on the com readout taking Panther by surprise as he spoke up "Whew... Ah, the lovely Krystal. Words do you no justice. I am Panther Caroso, here's to us." purred the feline.

Fox's other wing mate, a blue and red-feathered avian, spoke up in response "Who's this idiot?"

"Quiet bird." growled Panther.

"What was that?" replied the bird Wolf and Leon knew as Falco Lombardi, one of the Star Fox team's top pilots, and shortest tempers.

"Forget him. Look, just tell us where Pigma is!" interrupted Krystal, trying to avert another firefight.

"How can I resist this beauty? I believe the com record will point you toward Fichina." said Panther, indeed unable to refuse the breathtaking Vixen across the asteroids from him, beautiful women being his biggest weakness.

"You talk too much..." said Wolf, somewhat embarrassed by his wingman's incessant flirting before calling out to his team "Panther, Leon, let's go! Remember this Fox, Star Wolf will take you down one day!" growled wolf before punching the accelerator and roaring into the distance, the other two Wolfens following behind him.

A short while later, after Star Fox had left, the battered Wolfens maneuvered into the hangar deck of the _Wolf Pack_, the ship having stayed just out of the battle zone under cloak lest it be destroyed like the rest of the fleet. As Wolf powered down his craft, he couldn't help but think about how much Star Fox had changed since the last time he'd fought them during the war with Venom all those years ago. Their fighters, the Arwings, had been heavily redesigned and barely resembled the fighters that had almost completely wiped out Andross' entire empire and left the maniacal ape himself for dead. These were much sleeker, more maneuverable machines with more powerful weaponry, and Wolf was surprised that his team was able to make it out alive against them. He was also surprised by the new member of the team that Panther was so taken with, since Star Fox had a reputation for not taking on new members easily. A few moments later he, Leon, and Panther walked onto the bridge as Chino looked on.

"So what now boss?" he said in his deep, bassy voice.

"We're pulling out of here. Fox more than likely reported the location of this hideout to the Cornerian Defense Fleet, and if anyone's left alive in there they won't be in any shape to fend them off after the beating they took." explained Wolf.

"Where are we going now?" asked Panther, walking over to his seat on the bridge.

"I heard a rumor of a new base being built in the Asteroid Belt. Maybe that can be our new hideout." said Wolf as he and the others took their seats on the bridge, the _Wolf Pack_'s engines glowing as they powered up, propelling the vessel into warp moments later.

End chapter 3.

Original A/N, circa 2005: So, how was that? Hope I was able to give Wolf and company a good showing, even though they were bound to be beaten from the start this time around. I also edited chapter 2 to correct some small oversights in describing the defense preparations of the hideout. Please R&R so I can start on the next chapter!

New A/N: Just when you thought this story was dead, it rises from the abyss! Sorry for the lack of updates on this, been dealing with all nature of RL issues, not the least of which include my Game Cube dying and denying me access to the game which was my main reference material. I just recently got a Wii though, so I plan to bring this story out of hiatus and complete it. In preparation, I went through and revised what I had with the existing chapters (nothing major, mostly fixed grammar and paragraph structure to clean things up). I'm already working on chapter six, and will post it once I get a chance to complete it between college and other responsibilities.


	4. Chapter 4: Ghosts of the Past

Star Fox Assault: Star Wolf Edition

Disclaimers: Rated T for depictions of violence and mildly strong language. Star Fox and all names and characters (save for the _Wolf Pack_) are copyright Nintendo, Rare, and Namco.

Chapter 4:

Wolf, Leon, Panther, and Chino were in the docking bay, performing repairs on the Wolfens after the battle with Star Fox at the Sargasso zone, the cloaked _Wolf Pack_ having been put on autopilot on a course to the Asteroid Belt under sub-light speed, both to give the team time to repair their ships, and prevent anyone from detecting their approach to the region via their warp signature.

"Next time I see that damned Fox I'm have him begging for mercy." growled Panther as he patched up the scar of a blaster impact streaked across the trademark red rose on the side of his Wolfen below the canopy, the same hit having also caused his primary com system to be knocked out, forcing him to use the backup system.

"Get in line." scoffed Leon as he and Chino worked on a battered lower-left wing that was almost blown off by a homing laser blast delivered by the self-same Vulpine "You know good and well that Wolf gets the privilege of nailing his fuzzy butt."

"Doesn't mean I can't beat the hell out of him in the meantime." countered Panther as he continued to restore his craft's decoration to its former glory. The rivalry between Fox McCloud and Wolf O'Donnel wasn't the only inter-team rivalry shared between Star Fox and Star Wolf. There was also an unspoken rivalry between Leon and Falco, and Pigma & Andrew seemed to be especially fond of targeting Peppy and Slippy respectively when they were still on the team during the war with Venom. Whenever Star Wolf would engage Star Fox during the war, each member would almost invariably square off with their counterpart from the other team, sometimes with help from one or more of the numerous Venomian fighters that were usually in the area. "Maybe I could just steal away that gorgeous femme fatale of his instead?" Panther mused, referring to the new member of the Star Fox team that he had flirted with following the Sargasso battle.

"If she doesn't shove a blaster down your throat first." retorted Wolf, to which Panther scoffed "There's not a woman in the whole Lylat system I can't seduce." This made Wolf and Leon roll their eyes before resuming their repairs. Panther may have been lethal behind the trigger of a blaster or at the controls of a fighter, but the moment he caught sight of a beautiful woman, regardless of species, he was helpless against their feminine charms.

A few hours later, the team had managed to restore their fighters to combat-ready condition, a task made easier by the fact that Fox had refrained from going all-out. The worst of the damage had been to the Wolfens' defense shields, with minor to moderate physical damage suffered by the fighters themselves. There was still some time yet until they reached the outer edge of the Asteroid Belt, and the team was taking this time to eat and rest, allowing themselves to unwind after Sargasso.

"Fox is getting too soft. He went way too easy on us back there. For all he knew, we could have decided to follow him and ambush him at a later time." Wolf thought to himself as he again lay on the bed in his quarters. "Still, his skills are as sharp as ever. He knew just how much damage the Wolfens could take before suffering critical system failures." He also started wondering what they wanted Pigma for "Maybe they found out I kicked his fat ass out and decided to get revenge on him for killing Fox's old man now that he's vulnerable? Who knows." he mused, recalling the story of how Pigma had betrayed the original Star Fox team prior to the war with Venom, when it consisted of Pigma Dengar, Peppy Hare, and Fox's father James McCloud, delivering the other two personally to Andross during an ill-fated preemptive strike against the maniacal ape by way of firing on his wing mates' fighters during a critical point in the mission, causing them to bail out deep in Venomian territory where they were easily captured.

As part of Pigma's reward for bringing what were believed at the time to be the greatest threats to the growing Oikonny Empire to their knees, Pigma was allowed to join the mercenary team Andross had developed as a counter to Star Fox had Pigma failed in his mission, the team Wolf now had sole control over. The development of Star Wolf was a wise move on Andross' behalf, especially when Peppy Hare escaped from Andross and made it back to Corneria, rebuilding the Star Fox team and warning the Cornerian government of the impending invasion, but like all the gorilla's plans and schemes during the war, this one too ultimately proved futile in the end. At one point, Andross became so desperate as to give the team several highly-experimental prototype fighters using a neural input control system that would send thought patterns relating to operation of the craft directly to the onboard computers, theoretically reducing response time and making the fighter and pilot more lethal than if they were using traditional control systems. The only downside is that the pilots had to be surgically fitted with a series of cybernetic implants, which Andross had done after their second encounter with Star Fox at Bolse Defense Outpost, a space station in orbit around Venom. That battle was especially fierce, with both teams giving it everything they had, the members of Star Wolf being knocked unconscious when their disabled Wolfens were struck by the shockwave of the exploding space station, their life support systems functioning on emergency reserves only. The next time Wolf woke up, he and the others had been fitted with the cyber-implants. If it weren't for the fact that the new fighters the implants were for could give Star Wolf a chance to finish off Star Fox once and for all, Wolf would have killed Andross where he stood. When Wolf's team met their rivals on the battlefield again in the skies of Venom, in was one of the most intense dogfights either team had experienced in the entire war.

Despite the lengths Andross had gone to give Star Wolf an overwhelming edge technologically, Star Fox still prevailed, but it was a narrow victory, the Arwings having been pushed to their limits trying to cope with the sophisticated craft, Peppy and Slippy being forced to break off and return to the Great Fox when their defense shields and G-diffusers suffered near-critical damage, Slippy even losing a wing to a volley of blaster fire from Andrew's fighter. Eventually it came down to the skill of the individual pilots, and Fox and Falco were simply better, regardless of cybernetic enhancements or technology. The last thing Wolf remembered of that battle was spinning out of control as his crippled fighter plummeted towards the surface of Venom. When he recovered, Fox's Arwing was gone and Falco's was flying high cover over the entrance to Andross' underground base which he and his team had been tasked with defending, picking off Venomian fighters that strayed into the area from surrounding combat zones. Normally Wolf would have come out of the wreckage of the fighter with his blaster blazing trying to take out the lone Arwing, even at the cost of his own life, but his cybernetic connections to the hulking wreck and a broken leg forced him to stay put and 'play possum' instead. A while later, he saw what looked like two Arwings fly out of the opening, followed by a geyser of fire as the base exploded, the sight looking like an erupting volcano, the shockwave disconnecting his connection to the fighter and allowing him to make his escape from the twisted mass of metal that used to be a fighter.

Once Wolf had pried himself out of the wreckage of his fighter and ascertained that Star Fox and all the Cornerian forces in the area had cleared out, Wolf began to look for survivors of his team. By some miracle, everyone had managed to survive the battle, albeit with varying degrees of injury. Pigma had lost both his eyes and had to have artificial implants to replace them, Leon's throat was crushed and the reconstructive surgery wreaked havoc on his vocal cords leaving him with the scratchy, cackling voice he had now, which actually made him even more sinister in a way. Andrew got off the luckiest, only having a concussion, bruised ribs, and a broken arm. Wolf suspected Andrew's injuries weren't as bad as they could have been because of extra safety features Andross had put into his nephew's fighter, but he was never able to prove it. The only good thing that came out of that ordeal was the optic implant over Wolf's left eye which replaced the simple eye patch he had previously been wearing. The only part of the cybernetic devices that were stuck into his body that still worked after the battle, the implant gave him the ability to see in different spectrums and in low light, and had paid off more times than Wolf could remember in the years since the war, and like Leon's voice, also made him seem more intimidating.

As these memories and thoughts passed through Wolf's mind, he reached up and touched the implant, the cool, hard metal a stark contrast to the warm, soft fur and skin surrounding it. Through the device, he could see the differences in the heat radiated by different parts of his paw as it passed through its field of view, something a normal person wouldn't be able to do unless they had a mechanical heat-sensing device or were some kind of reptile that naturally had that ability. After a while, Wolf drifted off to sleep, the fatigue of the last couple days finally overcoming him as his good eye closed, the pale blue glow from the implant dimming as it powered down.

A few hours later, Wolf roused himself from his sleep, his implant silently powering back up as the lupine reached full consciousness, his normal eye opening a few moments later, looking around as he came to his senses, craning his neck to glance at the clock on a shelf next to his bed, grumbling a bit as he shuffled into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, shaking his head to clear some of the grogginess out of it before standing and heading to the simple bathroom connected to his quarters to clean up. After a while, Wolf was walking the corridors of the _Wolf Pack_, en-route to the mess hall, clad in his normal black leather attire, the ensemble covering nearly his entire body from the neck down, leaving only his head and tail exposed. As if his physical stature and his cybernetic implant weren't enough, he also had a set of shoulder pads adorned with short spikes on top to complete the overall 'bad-ass' image he generated. Upon reaching the mess hall, he saw that Leon and Panther were already there, making idle conversation over coffee, both of them looking up as Wolf arrived.

"Morning, sleeping beauty" said Leon, smirking a bit at his own joke as Wolf joined them at the table, taking a seat across from the two as he smirked in return "What's our status?"

"We're approximately half an hour outside the Asteroid Belt perimeter, holding position over Meteo World under cloak. The Wolfens have been refueled and rearmed and are ready to launch." replied Panther.

"Any signs of any other ships or patrol craft in the area?" asked Wolf.

"We were detecting some Venomian patrols working the area on long-range sensors, but they've dropped off sharply over the last few hours and as of the last 20 minutes or so seem to have disappeared altogether." Leon, answered.

Wolf to furrowed his brow "That's damn peculiar. Are there any other signs of activity in the area?"

"We were getting some intermittent sensor contacts from within the Asteroid Belt about the time the patrols disappeared, but were unable to confirm their identity due to interference from the asteroids, as well as some strange electromagnetic activity none of us could make any sense of." added Panther.

Wolf nodded slowly, mulling this information over in his mind and weighing his options. He then looked back to his comrades. "I still plan to make the base here our new headquarters if at all possible. We can make a quick scouting run, and if we run into hostile opposition, we'll either destroy them or pull back to organize a full assault depending on their strength." The other two nodded in agreement with Wolf's plan, and the three got up and headed to the bridge where Chino was standing watch, using the sensors to monitor the surrounding areas for any signs of possible hostile contact. "Got anything Chino?" asked Wolf as he stepped onto the bridge, the gorilla turning to face him.

"Just some unintelligible and intermittent sensor contacts within the Asteroid Belt, and that electromagnetic interference is still as strong as ever, if not more so now boss." said Chino, using the term he and all the Ruffians under Star Wolf's command at the Sargasso hideout used to refer to all three members of the team.

Wolf nodded, looking out the window ahead "Set course for the Asteroid belt perimeter at half speed, and prepare to launch the Wolfens upon arrival. If the sensors can't tell us anything, we'll just have to take a look with our own eyes." With this, Wolf and the others took up their stations on the bridge as the _Wolf Pack_ left its position over the lifeless, bombed-out shell of the former amusement park turned military base known as Meteo World, en-route to the expansive swath of space rubble stretching across the horizon that made up the Asteroid Belt.

End chapter 4.

Original A/N, circa 2005: Finally got chapter four done! Sorry for the lack of updates, been busy with real life and haven't had time to dedicate to the fic. Also sorry about the lack of action in this chapter, but even a tough guy like Wolf has to deal with downtime more often than not and I decided to take this time to give a partial recap of Star Wolf's history for those who aren't quite as familiar with them, though the next chapter will have plenty of action as Star Wolf has their first encounter with the Aparoids. Oh, and in case you're wondering where I got the 'second Arwing' Wolf saw coming out of Andross' underground base, play Star Fox 64 all the way through to the last level on the hard route. ;) As always, please read and review!

New A/N: Just when you thought this story was dead, it rises from the abyss! Sorry for the lack of updates on this, been dealing with all nature of RL issues, not the least of which include my Game Cube dying and denying me access to the game which was my main reference material. I just recently got a Wii though, so I plan to bring this story out of hiatus and complete it. In preparation, I went through and revised what I had with the existing chapters (nothing major, mostly fixed grammar and paragraph structure to clean things up). I'm already working on chapter six, and will post it once I get a chance to complete it between college and other responsibilities.


	5. Chapter 5: Disaster on the Rocks

Star Fox Assault: Star Wolf Edition

Disclaimers: Rated T for depictions of violence and mildly strong language. Star Fox and all names and characters (save for the _Wolf Pack_) are copyright Nintendo, Rare, and Namco.

Chapter 5

The _Wolf Pack_ had just reached the border of the Asteroid Belt, holding position half a mile from the edge of the field of rocks. As the aging battleship hovered in space, a trio of red, black, and silver fighters exited from the hangar bay, seeming to appear out of nowhere since their mother ship was still concealed by the cloaking device. Upon clearing the hangar bay, the three Wolfens joined up in a delta formation before continuing on into the cluttered darkness ahead.

"Alright guys keep it tight and stay alert." Said Wolf from his cockpit in the lead Wolfen, the three craft weaving and banking to avoid colliding with any asteroids, the chunks of rock ranging in size from small pebbles that bounced harmlessly off the crafts' defense shields to gigantic boulders almost as big as the _Wolf Pack_ that could easily crush a hapless fighter that was unlucky enough to get caught between them as they drifted aimlessly in the void of space.

"Looks like this interference is gonna make radar useless. We'll be flying eyes-only from here on in." said Leon, his fighter to the right and behind Wolf's.

"This is peculiar... the interference seems to be stronger in certain areas than others. I don't think this is natural. Might even be some kind of jamming devices to keep whatever's going on here a secret." added Panther from his craft opposite of Leon's on Wolf's left flank.

"Let's check it out. We can't conduct any decent recon with our radar all screwed up like this. If it is jammers, we'll waste 'em." said Wolf, the three fighters taking an intercept course towards the nearest concentration of electromagnetic disturbance. After a few minutes, they reached the heart of the nearest patch of interference, their radar completely blurred out from the intensity of the disruption. "Keep your eyes open, whatever's causing this should be right around here somewhere." warned Wolf as he and the others patrolled the field. A couple moments later, Leon broke the silence as he opened a channel to the other fighters.

"Got 'im, bandit at 2 o'clock high! It's a jammer alright, but not like any I've ever seen before." Sure enough, there was a large device hovering amongst the asteroids, looking like a giant black Starfish with 3 'arms' on each side and a round ball on the back, the device occasionally rotating around to face random directions as electromagnetic pulses emanated from the front of it, it's black color allowing it to blend in so well that they had to close within a few dozen meters before spotting it, several more being barely visible in the distance.

"Roger, targets confirmed, fire at will!" shouted Wolf, all three fighters breaking formation to engage the nearest radar jammers, lighting up the area with streaks of green blaster fire

"What the? I'm not even scratching the damn thing!" said a surprised Panther as his lasers struck the device with no apparent damage at all.

"Go for charged shots! Don't bother with a lock, you won't be able to get one without radar." ordered Wolf, a red glow appearing ahead of the nose of his Wolfen as the targeting reticule in his cockpit changed from a green square to an orange circle, Wolf maneuvering the fighter so the center of the circle rested right over the front of the jammer like a bull's eye. Just as Wolf was about to release the trigger and send the shot at his victim, what looked like a huge orange eye opened up, pink rings of energy coming out heading right for his craft. Reacting instinctively, Wolf let loose the shot and did a barrel roll to the side to avoid the shot, his Wolfen being briefly engulfed by a red glow as the bizarre energy beam sailed harmlessly past him "Watch out boys, these things are armed!" called Wolf as he headed for the next jammer, executing a 90-degree bank to avoid clipping his wings on one of the asteroids.

"Looks like this won't be so boring after all." Joked Panther, dispatching another jammer in the same fashion as his leader had just done.

"Don't get cocky. We've yet to see whatever it is these things are trying to hide." cautioned Leon as he too sent a large red blast of charged blaster energy into the Cyclops-like eye of his victim, this one not even getting a chance to return fire before it was destroyed.

Moments later the last of the radar jammer devices was disappearing in a strange purple fireball, the three Wolfens joining in the same delta formation they had started in when Chino contacted them from the _Wolf Pack._

"This is Chino, looks like the last of the interference has cleared up. I've got a huge contact on radar bearing two-eight-five degrees from your current position in the heart of the Asteroid Belt. Seems like some kind of base. Looks like you called it right boss."

"Got it, Chino. Hold position and keep monitoring us. The rest of you, with me." said Wolf as he, Leon, and Panther made a gentle turn to the left and accelerated into the asteroids. About halfway to the base, their radar began to light up with contacts heading their way "Here comes the welcome wagon; bogeys dead ahead." called Wolf, the other two fighters pulling parallel with him so they were arranged in a line abreast formation, allowing them to bring maximum firepower to the front all at once should they need it.

A couple minutes later, the Star Wolf team was embroiled in a massive dogfight among the asteroids, all three of them firing at and being fired on by strange, insect-like craft.

"What the hell are these things? I've never seen fighters like these before!" yelled Leon as he executed a spiraling climb to shake a trio of purple Dragonfly-like bandits that had started blasting at him from behind, what shots that did find their mark being neutralized by well-timed barrel rolls.

"Who cares what they are, just blast the damn things!" replied Wolf as he unleashed a charged shot that vaporized a whole formation in one go.

"I'll say this for them, they certainly are persistent." commented Panther as he let loose a burst of laser fire, striking down another group of alien craft.

No matter how many of the enemy fighters the team obliterated, they still kept on coming, and the defense shields of the three Wolfens were starting to be whittled away to dangerously low levels.

"I hate to admit it, but I think it might be time for us to cut our losses and get out of here while we still can." grumbled Wolf. It aggravated him to no end that someone other than Star Fox was forcing him to withdraw from a fight, but it wasn't worth getting killed over. "All ships, break contact and retreat immediately!" ordered Wolf, pulling a U-turn and punching the boost on his fighter, his wingmen's craft promptly following suit. As they roared away from the combat zone, a swarm of enemy craft gave chase, blasters blazing as streaks of green and purple filled the space between the two groups, the gap steadily closing "Panther, Leon, evasive maneuvers! Try to lose them in the asteroids!" shouted Wolf as he pulled a 90-degree hard left turn, a blaster shot meant for him slamming into an asteroid and shattering the drifting rock into half a dozen pieces. The other two Wolfens pulled a spiraling climb and a loop, respectively. The group of enemies pursuing them split into three groups; each one following after one fighter. Once among the asteroids, the ships began dodging and weaving, trying to trick their pursuers into crashing into the asteroids, a few of them falling for it, but not enough to make a significant impact in the size of the overall enemy force, and even worse, their defense shields were nearly gone now, due to both enemy fire and near-misses with the very asteroids they were trying to seek refuge among. Wolf had nearly cleared his tail of the last of the enemy when one of the worst transmissions he'd heard since Venom came over his com channel.

"Damnit, this is Leon, I've taken critical damage, ejecting!" yelled Powalski, the image of the chameleon on Wolf's dashboard disappearing in a burst of static. Wolf glanced over in his direction just in time to see the cockpit of his wingman's craft be blasted clear of the battered fuselage, just before a blaster shot from one of the oversized insects pursuing him tore the fighter into several pieces. Just as Wolf returned his attention to his own flying, a large asteroid slammed into the lower-left portion of his Wolfen, taking off that wing and sending the craft spinning out of control.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" screamed Wolf, instinctively grabbing for the ejection handle next to his right leg and pulling back hard on it, the inertia from the failing G-diffuser system and the ejection causing him to pass out, just as Panther called out with a mayday of his own, the bandits blasting the wings off his fighter like a child pulling the wings off a Fly, leaving him no way to maneuver effectively in the tight quarters, the last thing the ebony feline saw before punching out being an asteroid steadily filling his view dead ahead of his doomed craft.

Back on the _Wolf Pack_, Chino monitored the melee in horror, watching as three of the toughest, most ruthless mercenaries in all of Lylat were not only forced to break off from a battle, but were all three shot down as well. He was about to charge in guns blazing to try to rescue them when an alarm beeped on the console in front of him. A large, Dreadnaught-class battleship had just dropped out of warp and was heading in his direction, and there was only one person Chino knew of that operated one of those behemoths.

"Damnit, of all times, why now!?" cursed the Primate under his breath. The ship was too close to his position for him to attempt a rescue, leaving him with no choice but to lie low, watching on the view screen as the angular, X-winged vessel slowed to a stop near his position, the cloaking device the only thing keeping him from being discovered, four of the same silver and blue fighters the team had faced back at Sargasso exiting from the ship and heading towards the Asteroid Belt in formation, just as Wolf and the others had done. Chino glanced over at another display showing the vital signs of the three Star Wolf members; they were alive, but unconscious, the physical stresses of ejection having caused all three of them to black out. He then glanced over to the radar, the enemies that moments ago looked ready to move in to deliver the coup de grace on the hapless Star Wolf team having broken off their attack and retreated into the Asteroid Belt, presumably to ambush this new set of intruders on their territory. "Hold on guys, I'll get you as soon as I can, just hang on." said Chino, looking on into the darkness of space where his comrades drifted silently, frustratingly beyond his reach.

End chapter 5

Original A/N, circa 2006: Yep, I'm still here. Sorry this chapter took so long, life's been giving me all kinds of grief lately. As if the holiday stress wasn't enough, the motherboard on my computer died and I only have limited computer access via a relative's laptop until it's fixed. I decided to take a few more liberties with this chapter and make it look like the Aparoid force in the Asteroid Belt was much larger than what Star Fox encounters in the game, but they were thinned out a bit thanks to Star Wolf (before any of you nitpickers start whining, I know the sniper rifle's the only thing that can destroy the radar jammers, but it's not like they had one on a gun rack in the cockpit with them and could roll down the window to start taking pot shots, so I figured a manually-aimed charged shot would be the next best thing). As always, please read & review so I can start on the next chapter as soon as possible!

New A/N: Just when you thought this story was dead, it rises from the abyss! Sorry for the lack of updates on this, been dealing with all nature of RL issues, not the least of which include my Game Cube dying and denying me access to the game which was my main reference material. I just recently got a Wii though, so I plan to bring this story out of hiatus and complete it. In preparation, I went through and revised what I had with the existing chapters (nothing major, mostly fixed grammar and paragraph structure to clean things up). I'm already working on chapter six, and will post it once I get a chance to complete it between college and other responsibilities.


	6. Chapter 6: Licking Their Wounds

Star Fox Assault: Star Wolf Edition

Disclaimers: Rated T for depictions of violence and mildly strong language. Star Fox and all names and characters (save for the _Wolf Pack_) are copyright Nintendo, Rare, and Namco.

Chapter 6

Chino grumbled under his breath. He sat at his console on the otherwise vacant bridge of the _Wolf Pack_, glancing periodically between a display screen, sensor readout and a battle displayed before his eyes. The monitor next to him showed the status of the fallen Star Wolf members, while the sensor readout helped him to follow the battle between his team's arch-enemy Star Fox and some strange new enemy.

That was the strangest part of this whole thing: It was an enemy that had decimated the team. It left all three of them adrift in the Asteroid Belt with only the emergency life support systems in the ejection pods of their Wolfen fighters to keep them alive. Auxiliary power indicators illuminated the panel with a soft green incandescence.

On the main view screen ahead of Chino sat the image of the Star Fox squadron's mother ship. The Great Fox hovered only a few hundred meters from the _Wolf Pack_. Their cloaking device did well to prevent the detection of the latter by the former. Chino had also shut down the ships active radar and was using passive sensors to keep apprised of the battle raging beyond.

Once he got the opportunity, the pilot would move in and rescue the others, but if he made a move now he'd most likely be spotted. Being spotted meant being at the mercy of the massive twin guns prominently mounted on the bow of the Dreadnaught-class battleship. While the _Wolf Pack_ was armed with laser turrets and guided missiles, they were obsolete and nowhere near a match for the firepower of the Great Fox. While fighters were usually the method of weapon against a cruiser, Chino knew he wasn't in the position to launch an unplanned offensive.

Just as Chino was pondering his next move, his sensors registered a series of massive energy discharges. They came from the base within the Asteroid Belt that Wolf and the others had tried in vain to reach. That turned out to be nothing more than an ill-fated plan to make it their new base following the attack on the Sargasso hideout by Star Fox. A few minutes later, an even more massive discharge was detected, followed immediately by an explosion that seemed to be on the scale of a small nuclear weapon.

Without warning, the base disappeared from his sensors completely. "What the hell? Did they just destroy that whole base??" said Chino incredulously. He shifted his weight, watching as the four Arwings of the Star Fox team departed the asteroids and returned to their ship only moments later. Their silvery, angular ship seemed to be powering up its engines; it departed the area once the fighters were all onboard.

Once the Great Fox was finally out of sensor range, Chino wasted no time using his ships maneuvering thrusters to reach the location of his comrades. He made use of the tractor beam to bring each of the precious cockpits into the vessel. He skillfully scooped up the survivors, leaving what was left of the Wolfens for scrap as he rushed to the shuttle bay to render aid to the others.

When Wolf O'Donnell came to, he was in the sick bay of the _Wolf Pack_. His head throbbed like he'd just gone ten rounds with the Cornerian Heavyweight champ. O'Donnell slowly blinked his singular eye open, squinting at the harsh fluorescent light that illuminated the room. As everything slid into focus, the pilot shook his head to clear some of the dizziness and disorientation from his groggy, weary mind.

Wolf tried to sit up and found himself held back by Chino's paws. The pilot's palms were upon O'Donnell's shoulders, aiding the gruff timber-wolf so he didn't worsen his condition.

Chino's voice held a concern that caused Wolf to quirk a brow. "Easy boss, you just had a concussion, don't move too fast," advised the Gorilla, stepping back a bit once Wolf was sitting fully upright on the bed.

The grey-furred Lupine then looked around, seeing Leon and Panther in the nearby beds. Panther had a device strapped to his right arm and was mending a broken bone. "What's our status, Chino?" Asked Wolf as his singular gaze raked over the unconscious comrades. The creator was merciful for his crew to have lived.

Chino quickly replied, "We're currently under cloak in orbit around one of Katina's moons. I managed to recover what I could of the Wolfens in the docking bay. I would have gotten to you sooner, but Star Fox showed up just after you guys were shot down. They ended up fighting off the Aparoids and destroying the base."

Wolf blinked, looking back to Chino, asking, "Wait, Aparoids?"

Chino nodded then continued. "I was able to listen in on Star Fox's communication frequency. From what I overheard, those enemies you encountered out there were Aparoids, and it seems Pigma was working with them. Apparently he had stolen something called a 'core memory' from Star Fox and they were chasing him down trying to get it back."

Wolf shook his head as he listened to Chino's account of what had transpired during his short bout with unconsciousness. "That Pigma never learned. Guess it finally cost him big this time. Just glad that idiot wasn't able to drag us down with him." He then looked back to Chino again, "I want you to take us to Titania. I've got some spare Wolfens stashed there and there's not enough time to rebuild the others." Chino nodded, leaving for the bridge to carry out Wolf's orders. Looking around at his still-unconscious team mates, Wolf sighed and clenched one of his gloved hands into a tight fist. "Nobody makes fools of Wolf Star Wolf and gets away with it."

A few hours later, Wolf was on the bridge of the _Wolf Pack _with Chino, the two looking over various readouts on monitors around the bridge as Wolf spoke.

"Com channels are going nuts, and the long-range sensors are lit up like a freakin' nebula."

"Looks like about 90 percent of the com traffic is maydays and distress calls, all of them about Aparoids. Those bugs are spreading through the whole Lylat system." added Chino.

Wolf nodded, looking at a long-range sensor readout almost completely filled with Aparoid contacts. "No joke. The sooner we get to Titania and get those Wolfens loaded on, the sooner we can show these scumbags the door."

"We're just about there now, boss. I was just about to take us out of warp." Said chino, the elongated streaks passing the main view screen in front of the two pilots returning to tiny pinpricks of light filling the void of space, the massive red sphere of Titania looming large in the center of the screen, encircled by dark rings of asteroids and other stellar debris.

"Take us into low orbit over the southern hemisphere and scan for any structures on the surface. The Wolfens should be in a group of bunkers outside one of the secondary research settlements." instructed wolf as he readied the ships onboard transfer device, configuring it to compensate for Titania's notorious dust storms.

Chino followed Wolf's instructions, using a combination of the ships sub-warp engines and maneuvering thrusters to ease the _Wolf Pack_ into orbit several hundred kilometers above the surface of the planet, engaging the scanners as he searched for the structures Wolf described, locating them within a few minutes. "I found 'em, boss. I've readied the hangar bay and am establishing synchronous orbit."

"Transfer device online, disengaging cloak." responded Wolf as he keyed in commands on the console at his station on the bridge, the aging battleship shimmering into visual existence as the cloaking device was deactivated.

"I've got a lock on the Wolfens, ready to engage transfer sequence." said Chino from his station as he relayed the coordinates from the sensors to the targeting scanners of the transfer device.

Wolf nodded, bringing up an image of the hangar bay on one of the screens at his station via the ships closed-circuit camera system so he could monitor the process. "Engage transfer sequence." Seconds later, flashes of light illuminated the hangar bay, the light morphing into the shape of three Wolfen fighters as it dimmed, the four wings of each craft already folded along the sides of the fuselage in storage configuration. "Transfer successful. Take the transfer device offline and return power to the cloaking system." instructed Wolf. Chino nodded and did as directed, the crimson-hued hull of the _Wolf Pack_ shimmering as it once more vanished from sight.

Wolf was just about to issue another set of instructions to Chino when an incoming message alert beeped urgently, garnering both pilots' attention. Wolf checked the source of the message and saw that it was a level one emergency signal bearing a Cornerian Defense Forces carrier signal, making it stand out from the plethora of other emergency signals littering the communications channels. Wolf raised an eyebrow at this, and opened a connection to the channel. The transmission he heard next made the normally cynical and seemingly heartless lupine's blood run cold.

"This is Commander Jefferson of the Third Fleet; the enemy has broken through our final defensive line and is over-running the capitol city! All units break contact and retreat to fallback positions immediately! I say again, all units break contact and retr…" The communication was interrupted in a burst of static as a metallic, monotone voice cut in.

"We are the Aparoids; you will cease all resistance and join us or face destruction. The Lylat system now belongs to us."

Just as the communication ended, Panther and Leon came onto the bridge, the pilots frowning as they faced the view screen on far side of the bridge, Panther being the first to speak, "What are your orders, boss?"

Wolf turned to face his comrades, bearing an expression belying a passionate, deep-seated resolve. "We may have fought against Corneria in the past, and I may not give a rip about their government, but I am _not_ going to let these damned freaks destroy everything! Chino, take us to full battle readiness and set course for Corneria at maximum warp. Panther, Leon, we've just finished taking on replacements for the Wolfens, get them ready to launch the moment we arrive."

The other three pilots nodded as they were given their orders, the bridge lighting replaced with a crimson glow as the ship went to battle stations mode, the primate helmsman inputting commands into his console as the feline and reptilian pilots departed the bridge, their lupine leader close behind them as they headed to the hangar bay.

A few hours later, Wolf, Leon, and Panther had finished configuring their replacement Wolfen fighters and had a full load of Nova Bombs onboard each one and ensured both the power cores and blasters' power cells were fully charged up. Once all the main preparations were complete, the pilots focused on fine-tuning their craft, which for Panther included re-painting his signature red rose on the right side of the hull under the canopy. Wolf glanced over and smirked, shaking his head at his team mate's activity "Why do you bother with that? It's not like it makes any difference."

"Those freaks made a fool of me. I want them to know who it was that struck them down when we take our revenge on them." replied Panther with a sinister snarl, not looking up from his task as he carried on painting the decoration on his craft.

"You're not the only one that got their tail handed to them out there, don't forget that." chimed in Leon from the open cockpit of his own fighter, the chameleon going through the process of making minor adjustments to his control settings and targeting systems.

"From the sounds of it, we'll all have more than enough of those Aparoid freaks for all of us to get our fill of payback on." Wolf replied. He was just about to continue when Chino came over the intercom from the bridge.

"We've just dropped out of warp at Corneria; it's a goddamn mess out there. Not even Andross' invasions looked this bad!" stated the gorilla, his voice relaying an unusually emotional tone that made the other pilots raise an eyebrow.

Wolf then looked to the others as he keyed the com channel in his Wolfens cockpit, having also been sitting in it with the canopy open. "Got it Chino, prepare combat drill Epsilon seven. We're nearly ready to launch down here," the lupine then looked over to his wing mates as he continued, "Panther, Leon, wrap it up; it's time to show these bastards that _no one_ messes with Star Wolf and gets away with it!"

End chapter 6

Author's Note: After several years, I _finally_ completed a new chapter on this story! I had to put the story on hiatus for several years due to a combination of personal life causing distractions, as well as the laser in my Game Cube dying and making it unable to read the game disks, thus depriving me of reference material until I was able to get a Wii earlier this year. I almost started to write Star Wolf's involvement in the battle on Corneria wherein they join forces with Star Fox, but remembered that takes place in level seven of the game, and since each chapter follows one level of the game, the next two chapters will have the two teams joining up to kick some serious Aparoid butt. Please read & review and let me know what you think of my return from hiatus!


End file.
